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DJ Quik – Trauma

DJ Quik! Maintaining a strong presence in rap since the 80’s, Quik has been one of the forerunning voices of the West Coast, working with such acts as Dre, 2Pac, and Snoop Dogg during the height of their popularity as artists. Several of his albums have been critically acclaimed, and now on his latest effort he expands his boundaries to the south as well as the west.

The first thing one will probably notice is the presence of live instruments that induces an organic sort of sound. The first actual song, Intro For Roger, is funky but also mesmerizing, with a different feel than plain G-Funk; Fandango, with B-Real, makes heavy use of horns to back good performances by both Quik and Real (the latter’s flow is bonkers!). Til Jesus Comes brings back the flavor of a Death Row-era West Coast, with the same type of stoic bass/drums, edited background singing, and synths, but brings something new to the formula with an electric guitar on the chorus.

Black Mercedes with Nate Dogg is possibly one of the smoothest and G-Funkiest tracks I’ve heard in a very long time, with excellent performances by both Quik and Nate, period. The album continues on with a track featuring Game and Quik’s longtime partner in rhyme AMG, then one featuring–yes–Chingy. You may groan, but Chingy’s performance on this song utterly stunned me; it was actually GOOD. Either Quik is god, or he has a ghostwriter and let Chingy get two verses from dude.

The rest of the album, through the smooth funk of Indiscretions in the Back of the Limo with TI and the silky Quikstrumental with Jodeci, brings more innovations and changes in sound, showing Quik has definitely kept up his abilities through the years, if not improved them.